Leadership Team Jon Klaus, President Jon is the “vision guy” at VentureNet, always looking to the future and better ways to leverage technology to best serve the needs of our clients. Equal parts entrepreneur and team leader, Jon has a gift for encouraging others and is a strong proponent of “big hairy audacious goals.” It has occasionally been whispered in our halls that his highest and best use in our team is found in his regularly unorthodox approach. Jon works hard at developing strategies and best practices that make sure we keep our clients first. He wants our clients to see us as we are: working to understand the core engine of their businesses, their goals, and their priorities so that we can deliver greater value. Jon is also excellent at developing relationships that will strengthen VentureNet. He is a founding member of the International Alliance of Technology Integrators (IATI) and the driving force behind the DFW Inc5000 Peer Group. A part of a close family, Jon is father of five and enjoys being a “gentleman farmer” and real estate investor. He and his wife, Chris, together with their three older children, opened their home to foster children and have since adopted two toddlers. While wondering if “free time” is possible while keeping up with children ranging from pre-school age to teenagers, Jon is an avid reader – Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” among his favorites. He considers Jesus Christ as the single greatest influence in his life. An amateur burger aficionado (but extremely close to professional!), Jon favors Humperdinck’s Kobe Burger. Somehow he squares this with his recent 44-lb weight loss as part of Body for Life Challenge - must be the creative thinker in him! Tom Wright, Director of IT Services Tom has 105 years experience in IT (OK, that’s in dog’s years – just want to make sure you’re still reading! – it’s more like fifteen “human” years) and directs VentureNet’s excellent staff of technical people. He joined the VentureNet team in 1996 because of our culture and excellent leadership, the freedom to grow professionally and the opportunity to impact the direction of our firm. Tom values the integrity and strong relationships within his technical team and says, “This is a team I trust completely and believe every client can trust just as much.” Tom works endlessly to ensure his staff gets the support they need to offer best-in-class service to every client. In addition to being an outstanding manager, Tom’s an excellent engineer and a go-to resource on Active Directory and Exchange servers. He’s passionate about VentureNet standing out as the best IT provider for your firm and equally passionate about seeing every client become a raving… fan! Tom is father to two teenagers (he’s earned every gray hair!) and spends his free time keeping up with them and teaching junior high kids at his church. Tom desires to see the young people he works with making an impact on their world for God. Tom’s heroes include his wife, Debbie, and his father-in-law, Larry Oubre. He says he’d most like to meet the apostles Peter and Paul, as well as Moses, in heaven – adding “I have a lot of questions for them!” Tom loves Tex-Mex or a good steak and is an interesting study in contrasts: he’s as comfortable teaching the Bible as he is ripping around on a jet ski at the lake. Bruce Beaty, Director of Telephony Services Bruce grew up the son of missionaries working in Guatemala and El Salvador. He remembers hurrying to finish his school lessons so he could scoot down to a local radio station and hang out with the sound engineer, peppering him with questions. Bruce built his first radio power amp at 11 and had his own oscilloscope at 14. Bruce’s first “real” job was handling tech support on a DEC PDP 11 in the mid-80’s. The rest, as they say, is history… After several years providing network support, Bruce and his “old” college buddy Jon Klaus (they were 27 by then!) founded VentureNet in 1990. They infused the company with their own values – integrity, tenacity, creativity, “plus one” service, doing unto others – to form a great company and great place to work. Bruce sees one of our greatest challenges to be helping clients understand the cost-justification and benefits of VentureNet’s services and solutions in the midst of economic realities and a marketplace currently driven by fear. Bruce’s guiding principle with clients, vendors, and VentureNet staff alike is to provide lasting benefit to the people we touch. Bruce is a self-confessed “gym rat”, always ready for a pick-up basketball game. He’s also a born tinkerer – there’s hardly anything he won’t take apart and reassemble (though by his own admission, he has no desire to take on an automatic transmission!). In his spare time, he’s involved in church activities, home-remodeling projects, and building custom audio speakers. He’s a devoted family man and known for his quick wit, corny jokes and ready stories. At staff birthday celebrations, he is well-known for asking, “So, what’s your favorite birthday memory?” – a question that has led to many humorous moments for our team. Faster than a speeding bullet through the company candy drawer and able to leap tall freeze pops in a single bound, Bruce also provides leadership for VentureNet’s telephony team, which has installed and maintains more than 100 VoIP phone systems. He considers his dad first among his heroes and has been influenced greatly by investors Benjamin Graham and Andrew Tobias. A devotee of long-term investing and a committed student of the Bible, Bruce says he’d most like to meet “Oracle of Omaha” Warren Buffett and Evangelist Billy Graham.

Company Background Company Philosophy Leadership Team News keepgoing.biz fills an important piece of our disaster recovery plan, a piece we were really having trouble getting our arms around. Our data is far more recoverable and restorable than it was previously. – Gary L., IT Director, marketing and fundraising firm We have done away with the headaches and hassles of data backup. keepgoing.biz gives us the confidence of knowing our data is protected. Our data is always accessible and secure. – Debbie S., Manager, commercial pool construction company Read More